The Biden administration has deliberately downgraded rural Internet reception for political reasons. Elon Musk’s Starlink service has been shut out of the process which now has a profound impact on the Western North Carolina natural disaster. Another $425 billion Biden loss that will now have an impact on people’s lives.
Here is the link for the power outages in North Carolina. Some areas will have no power for a month as the electrical infrastructure will need to be completely rebuilt once the roads are cleared and rebuilt. The cost to rebuild WNC will have an inflationary impact on construction costs throughout the country.
David DeGerolamo
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Biden’s stalled rural internet program ignites debate about exclusion of Musk’s Starlink
President Biden’s slow rollout of a $42.5 billion rural internet program has increased criticism of the administration’s decision to yank federal funding from Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband service, which proponents say could provide faster, cheaper internet access to areas with little or no connectivity.
Mr. Musk criticized the federal program in response to a Washington Times report detailing the yearslong process of administering the massive tranche of funds and connecting homes to the internet.
“Your tax dollars for nothing,” Mr. Musk posted on his social media site, X.
At the current pace of distributing the funds, high-speed internet connections to most of the rural areas intended to benefit from BEAD won’t be completed until 2030. The Commerce Department, which is in charge of the program, said none of the projects will begin until 2025 or 2026.
Mr. Musk’s SpaceX is excluded from the BEAD federal subsidies because the money is reserved for companies deploying fiber-optic cable, which the government views as a more proven technology than satellite connections.
During the Trump administration, SpaceX was on track to receive $885.5 million from a different federal program to provide internet to rural locations. The Democratic-led Federal Communications Commission canceled the SpaceX award in August 2022.
Hell, stop relying on the government to take care of you. Sounds like a nanny state liberal talking. Don’t rely on Satellite if its gonna be politicized. Microwave back-haul and 3G wireless internet is the next best option. Hopefully the Governor will pursue this type of communications for both voice and data. It’s really not that expensive. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
As for the power going out, that’s not a surprise in the area. Mine goes out all the time. Had to buy a generator and build a portable solar system to keep the frig and lights on. You can cycle the frig on for 2 hours, off for 3 hours. It’s just a but ice chest. Got sleeping bags in my disaster closet too just in case. You can even pitch a tent in the living room if you got no heat. Ever wonder why you seen so many drapes in the old days? Honestly people, how on earth did the pioneers ever get by?
The outage map fails to show Mountain Electric Coop, which serves us in the NW portion of Burke County and parts of Avery County. We are out in Jonas Ridge and surrounding areas served by MEC,